View full sizeExpress-Times Photo | TIM WYNKOOPA worker from American Traffic Solutions puts up one of Pohatcong Township's red light cameras last August. If Pohatcong does not reach a resolution with neighboring Greenwich Township by Sept. 1 over the camera at Routes 22 and 122, the company will be directed to remove them at that intersection, the New Jersey Department of Transportation says.

Pohatcong has until Sept. 1 to reach an agreement with the neighboring municipality or the cameras will be shut down.

The boundary issue, however, will not affect motorists who've already received tickets.

“The cameras are perfectly valid,” Pohatcong Township attorney Kevin Benbrook said Wednesday. “Nobody’s getting a refund on any tickets and tickets are going to continue to issue on the cameras.”

The township's red light cameras are at Route 22 and New Brunswick Avenue (Route 122) and Route 22 and St. James Avenue (Route 519). The cameras at Routes 22 and 519 are unaffected by the state's ruling.

A spokesman for the NJDOT said the red light camera dispute is unprecedented in the state and agrees with Benbrook that prior tickets remain valid.

“The intersection was authorized for operation based on its safety score and engineering practice,” NJDOT spokesman Tim Greeley wrote in an email. “Our understanding is that all violations to date have been warranted regardless of where the revenue goes.”

Greenwich Mayor Joseph Tauriello said Tuesday officials raised the issue to secure the township's share of fines generated at the intersection.

Since going into operation last September, the cameras issued a combined 20,759 violations through May 31, according to Charles Territo, spokesman for camera vendor American Traffic Solutions. The Route 122 intersection shared with Greenwich generated 9,519 of those violations, he said.

At $85 a ticket, the municipal portion of the fine is $56.50 after the state collects $11.50 and American Traffic Solutions takes a $17 fee out. Pohatcong has received more than $1.17 million in revenue, with $537,824 of that coming from the contested intersection.

Pohatcong Mayor James Kern III said the township intends on talking to Greenwich about the issue.

It is unclear what party would be responsible for the cost of removing the cameras at the intersection, if the townships can’t reach an agreement.

“That’s not even part of the discussion at this point,” Territo wrote in an email. “We continue to have every expectation that Pohatcong and Greenwich will be able to resolve this issue amicably.”

As it stands now, Benbrook said “the ball’s going to be in Greenwich’s court.”

“If we can work something out, we’ll work something out,” Benbrook said. “If we can’t, we can’t and those particular cameras will go black.”